Clutched by the Beast

Chapter 1

Ludwig could feel his heart pumping at an erratic tempo as he stared down at his boarding pass. Oh what had brought him to this. Oh yeah... that. His eyes roved to his arm, where a single white line stood out on his skin. The scar. It's strange that such a thing could cause so many problems. Looking up he could see a few girls staring at him and he felt the rush of blood up into his face. God, they probably thought he was a cutter or something. His left hand went to tug his sleeve down but he stopped it, a wry twist of his lips accompanying it. 'He' would probably scold Ludwig if he ever heard that thought. Then again, he may just find out anyway. Only the devil below could know what Ludwig did of that man's wicked ways. And yet here was Ludwig, on his way to the beast's den. As thoughts of 'Him' surrounded Ludwig, he couldn't help but re-track back to the beginning of it all.

Gilbert. Well, really the Gilbirds at this point, but Gilbert was to blame for those. He could hear the fluttering of their wings all night, as they patrol the hall outside his door. Gilbert could call him crazy for saying that, but that's like calling the kettle black as they say. Ludwig was pretty sure his brother's mind was bordering on cracked... Well it's not like he was ever that sane to begin with but now... It's like he has gotten worse. It isn't the type of insanity you can really categorize either. Most would just call it "eccentric" but that didn't help Ludwig sleep at night.

"This is useless" he thought, turning another time in bed. The soft cooing coming from outside his door just caused him to feel even more irritable. Those little yellow birds were the bane of his existence. They ate, they pooed and they pecked and he had to be the one to take care of all their messes. He knew if he tried to leave it to Gilbert nothing would ever get done. Ludwig would rather do all the work in the house than live in a dump. He could feel the shudder run through him at the mere thought. Luckily though, he had been able to keep them out of his room so far. His Nice, Clean, Organized room. He sighed in contentment at that, a drop of pleasure in this sea of malcontent. He stayed in his room till his brother awoke for work, a thankful time for it was when the Gilflock (as they were affectionately named by Gilbert) would come together to greet their master in the morning. He swore that flock was sentient at times. With everything he needed for the day, Ludwig quickly exited his room, locked his door and headed down for the normal morning routine.

He must have looked angrier than he thought he was projecting. The instant he walked into school, he was barreled into by a worried Feliciano Vargas. His friend (his only friend) babbled to him as Ludwig walked to class.

"Veeeee! I was so worried when you didn't show up for our morning study group as usual. You're never late. I thought that you were going to be sick! Veeeeeeeeee! But I am happy that you made it before class started. Were you in a fight?"

Ludwig's heart started for a second and he stopped to stare at the other boy.

"Why would you think that?"

Ludwig could see some tension fall from Feli's face and a blush took its place.

"Oh, well, your hair is all... messy. I guess it just isn't like you to walk out without doing your hair."

Ludwig reached up to feel the disorderly strands. He had been trying to get out of the house quickly, and having had no sleep, seemed to have forgotten to slick his hair back. He must look odd. Continuing their trek to class, Ludwig couldn't help but think that the day couldn't get any worse.

Infamous words that one should never utter. Ludwig ended up forgetting his math homework, falling asleep in History, and getting tagged out in gym, something that never happened. By the last bell, he was feeling more than ready for school to be over. He bid Feli and his twin Lovino (who really only glowered at him in return) goodbye before heading back behind the school to cut across the fields. Running over to the fence line which was hidden by a thick of trees and bushes, Ludwig walked at a leisurely pace home, enjoying the fresh autumn air. But as he walked, Ludwig caught a sound on the breeze.

Looking ahead, Ludwig could make out 5 figures in the distance. His brow furrowed as he tried to make out who they might be. As he got closer though, he could hear that indistinguishable sound growing. It was a voice and whoever was producing it seemed to be yelling, their voice growing steadily louder as they screamed. The voice suddenly peaked before the field became silent. Ludwig dropped his hands from his ears, his face curling into disdain. Yes, he knew that voice. It belonged to Alfred Jones, an annoying boy if there ever was one. Maybe Ludwig was letting his own old prejudices get in the way but hell, he never liked that kid. Considering the number of other people with him, Ludwig could guess correctly who was out there with Jones and as he got closer he proved himself right.

Arthur Kirkland stood next to an angry Jones, his own posture mirroring his friend; to the left of them was Matthew, Jones' often forgotten brother. Ludwig had to admit he very rarely remembered the boy existed. To the right was Kiku. Ludwig couldn't help a small sense of anger from rising while looking at the boy. Kiku had been trying to get Ludwig to befriend Alfred, saying they would actually get along quite well. Traitor. That was the only word he could think when looking at him. The last boy, who seemed to be the center of attention at this little yelling fest was Ivan Braginski, the Russian foreign exchange student who was inducted into club Jones earlier that year. But that was where Ludwig finally noticed something odd. Beyond the blaze of his anger he could make out Ivan's stance. His hands held up while he tried to smile disarmingly, as if trying to defuse a tense situation. As Ludwig raked his eyes back over the other boys he could see that this was not some friendly get together behind the school. Alfred was gearing up, his stance shifting into one Ludwig knew very well. Oh did he.

Ludwig could feel his blood pumping as he stared ahead of him. The boys were starting to surround the Russian. Ludwig's mind began to slip as memories of middle school flooded into him. The angry shouting, the crunching of bones, the smacking of fists, the blood. Before he knew it, he was running towards the group, adrenaline pulsing through his veins. His eyes were focused on Alfred, as the teen began to wind up for the first punch. "SMACK!" Impact. The force of Ludwig's shove had Alfred 's punch veering off course onto a very surprised Kiku. The two fell to the ground heavily and for a second it was silent. Ludwig could hear his labored breath as he hunched into fight mode, ready for someone to move.

"What the Fuck!" Alfred was getting up, looking more than a little pissed. Lifting his eyes Ludwig met Alfred in a stare, confusion mixing with anger. "Bielshmidt? What the hell are you doing here?" Ludwig couldn't help it as a lilt of a sneer made its way onto his face.

"Well well, Jones, four against one. Never took you as a coward." That got a reaction. The confusion melted a way a bit as the hero got up.

"Get out of the way Bielschmidt. I have got nothing to do with you"

"Yes Ludwig, please. We are doing what is best." The German boy could hear Kiku pipe up from behind Alfred. He looked a little bruised but still good enough to stand.

"We need to teach this asshole a lesson!" Alfred looked livid as his pointed at the Russian, but Ludwig wasn't paying attention to their words anymore. He just wanted to fight. He needed to fight. Before another word could pass through Alfred's lips, Ludwig threw a quick jab at his face. The instant his fist met flesh, the tension of the situation compounded, exploding around him.

Matthew came up quick behind him, shoving Ludwig away from his twin. Ludwig could hear the sounds of a scuffle behind him as he took a true Alfred Jones punch to the face before returning one of his own flavor. A kick to the side. An elbow to the head. A punch on the spine. It was a twirling, violent mess, destruction and beauty rubbing up against one another. Before he knew it, he found himself back to back with the tall Russian, surrounded by Alfred and his gang and ready to continue duking it out till the last man stood. Right as the fight was reaching its climax, a voice carried on the wind found its way to the teenage battle. Looking back to the school, Ludwig could see a lone figure running towards their fight.

"Fuck"

Yao, Kiku's older brother and student teacher at Hetalia High, was sprinting towards them, a furrow of disapproval on his brow. With only a second to make his decision, Ludwig grabbed Ivan shoulder pushing him in the opposite direction of the School. The Russian made to look back at Ludwig, "Wha-"

"Come on!" Grabbing the silly pink scarf the boy wore, Ludwig gave a tug before just taking Ivan's hand and forcing the boy to sprint with him. Luckily, Ivan seemed to have figured out the situation and was keeping up with Ludwig as they sprinted past Kirkland and towards the street away from the school. Ludwig burned his way through memories as they sprinted through the streets, block by block they ran before making it to Germania Park.

Losing the last of his steam, Ludwig let go of Ivan hand, instead falling heavily onto the grass. He was breathing in large gulps of air, trying to calm himself before hearing Ivan's thickly accented voice break through the fog of war.

"Are you ok?" he asked. Ludwig looked up, he almost forgot the other boy was there.

"Huh.. oh yeah. I'm fine, just trying to catch my brea-" Ludwig stopped mid sentence as his eyes met the sight of his companion. The Russian boy stood in front of him with his normal odd smile, but his face was covered in blood. So much so that it had already started dripping down off his face and onto his pink scarf and white oxford.

"Oh my god. Are you ok?" Ludwig asked, pointing to Ivan's face. The Russian boy looked confused as he brought his hand up to his face before pulling back to look at his fingers.

"Oh, don't worry. It's not mine, hehe." Ivan had a disarming smile spread wide as he said it, though it was a little warped by all the blood. Ludwig just nodded taking in the blood splatters on the boy's clothing and deciding that what Ivan said was probably true.

The smile suddenly drooped, "Oh my, hehe. You need to see your face." Ludwig touched his own face and winced.

"Alfred got you good, da?"

"Yeah heh, he did didn't he?" He couldn't help but smile, Ivan's good nature seemed infectious all of a sudden. Both teens laughed on the grass, the post-fight mood was positive, even if the fight itself had ended without a winner.

Suddenly a buzzing sound filled the air. Looking around, the boys deduced that it was coming from Ludwig's bag. Rummaging through his sack, Ludwig found the source of the disturbance, his phone.

"Oh crap" Ludwig whispered to himself, looking down at his phone.

"Who is it?"

"Ah, it's just my brudder. I'm supposed to be home making dinner." Ludwig answered while picking himself up off the grass.

"Well I guess I'll see you around Ivan." He said before pelting off home, never once looking back at the strange boy watching him go.

He is interesting, yes? Yes. But so, how do they say it here, "uptight". Hmmmm. Yes. That should get remedied. Yes. Yes indeed.

AN: Well i think that first chapter went well.

Just wanted to let you know that this story is going to be a comedy/romance/angst and that as the story goes on, I'm planning on making it progressively darker, but the humor will still be interspersed.

Hope you all enjoy it

:D